Massif - Garth Nix

Better known as a fantasy writer, Garth Nix's first science fiction novel initially feels a little tentative in its approach to what appears to be the space opera field. Rather than take the time to build up to how the people of Earth find a means to travel in space and explore other planets, the author explains it all in the brief prologue before seeming to settle down into rather more mundane aspects of military life aboard one of these spaceships that gets caught up in a skirmish with an enemy fleet. For quite a while you have no idea where it's going, but there is a larger scheme building in the background around the mystery of the Massif.

The origins of the Massif are laid out in that prologue, so I'm going to do the same. The first Massif appeared on Earth in 2097, arising into orbit out of the Marojejy massif in Madagascar, leading to the discovery of otherspace travelling Massifs, each with an enigmatic avatar entity. Visits and investigations to the MirinahRakoto Massif discover that normal technology won't work there, nor can nuclear weapons be held there, but old style valve technology works. What is most significant however is that the Massifs gift humanity with Basics; spaceships for interstellar travel to other habitable worlds. Unfortunately, being human, these soon become new places for conflict and wars between the two major solar system powers, the United Earth Government (UEG) and Mars and Beyond Prosperity Sphere (MBPS), commonly known as Marsies.

The crew of the United Earth Government Navy ship Sassafras under the control of Parnell Shi-Sawahla are on their way to a new battle in the long conflict between the two powers. The Sassafras has been largely successful in previous expeditions over their sixteen months tour of duty, but as they approach a planet with what looks like an unusual solar array, concerns start to arise. One of the key members of the crew Kaz, has already been showing signs of strange behaviour that could be signs of Massif psychosis - one of the dangers of flying these ships - and even Parnell, the pilot, is experiencing worrying symptoms. It doesn't help that the fleet are following the commands of the reckless task force leader Gnasher on the flagship Changua, so when Marsies do indeed appear, all hell breaks loose.

The initial impression from the opening of Massif is that there hasn't really been enough time taken to explore the whole worldview of the setting in order to establish some kind of consistency or rationale for what takes place. The situation on Earth is sketched in; there's a united government (with some exceptions), where everyone has basic needs taken care of. Those who want to improve their position send children to fight in the war, which has been on/off for fifty years, the latest outbreak has lasting eighteen years so far. There is little purpose to the wars other than human greed, but then that's often true, with there appearing to be any real idealogical belief informing the conflict even among the individual navy crew, who likewise are doing it for the money. Among the enhanced abilities however there are cloned gene insertions that creating 'family' groups, each with differing skills and abilities. M-field sensitivity - the ability to extend sensory awareness - is essential to pilot a Basic.

The Massifs remain more enigmatic - despite humanity now reliant on them for space travel - but you can presume (correctly) that an understanding of what they are will become the main purpose of the book. It takes quite a while for this theme to evolve however. As the the crew of Sassafras and other UEGN ships head off into battle, Massif gets off the ground but it hardly takes flight, metaphorically speaking. Like Parnell, who comes out of the battle somewhat shell-shocked, the novel seems like him to be wandering around looking for a purpose. Having come down on the Massif DrummerBoy, he wants to go out looking for a pilot Kaz lost in the firefight, but is unable to shake the UEGN command into action and becomes distracted himself by pointless military orders. There is almost something Kafkaesque about the situation of dealing with meaningless military officialdom, to say nothing of the Massif avatar DrummerBoy he needs to make contact with and Tentacled Horrors adding to the surreality.

In some respects, and for a few other vague reasons that I would not want to get into for spoiler reasons, it feels to me like I could be reading a Philip K Dick book. In Parnell there is a study of a indecisive character, who feels like a romantic failure and a sense of inadequacy when faced with a challenge, and is struggling to find a deeper purpose. Massif is not thrilling enough for a SF space adventure on its own and you feel that it has missed out on developing into a trilogy where some other aspects could be explored. It does propose some ideas on technology and militarisation when it comes to space expansion, but little adds up to much. 

The danger here is that there may not be enough to keep you reading to the end, which would be a pity, as Massif is worth persevering with. Despite not being all that interesting for long stretches, ironically I think it might have been better as a proper space opera trilogy, with more time given over to developing the characters, the world and the battles and skirmishes that take place, gradually teasing out the central issue of the origin of the Massifs. The ending here - where the novel finally explodes into action and revelations are made - would certainly be good enough to sustain a longer work, but even as is it, it's still very much worth the journey.

Reading notes: Massif by Garth Nix is published by Orion/Gollancz in hardcover and as an eBook on the 17th September 2026. I read a preview copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.